Download From a Stearns County Jail Cell - St. Michael`s Church, Duluth, MN

Ascension (B), May 17 & 18, 2015
“Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6)
Readings:
Acts 1:1–11; Psalm 47: 2–9; Ephesians 1:7–13; Mark 16:15–20
From a Stearns County Jail Cell
I remember getting a 3 AM phone call a year or so ago, letting me
know that a young guy from my floor at Saint John’s was in jail; he had
gone to a dance, drank way too much vodka, was not old enough to
drink to start with, took a wild swing at a police officer, was subdued,
arrested and put in a squad car; he did not go peacefully. He slept it off
in a Stearns County jail cell, and his father went to pick him up later in
the day and brought him back to campus. I have rarely known a young
man to be so filled with remorse and repentance. I saw him in the
hallway soon after his arrival, raised my hand in greeting, and before I
could say or ask anything, he came quickly toward me and embraced me
in silence, but he couldn’t look me in the eyes. Later, he came to my
office to chat, his head still bowed down in grief and shame, his eyes
glistening with tears.
I asked what his dad had said on the drive back from jail to
campus. “Oh,” he said, “it was so awful.” “Awful?” I asked. “The worst,”
he said; continuing, “I wish that he had hollered and berated me, gotten
angry or even called me names.” “What did he say?” I asked. “He told
me that he was disappointed in me.”
What a wonderful dad; what excellent parenting. I sent that dad a
piece of fan mail later that day, congratulating him for an excellent job in
raising up a son to have so finely tuned a conscience. It often seems to
me that we can be pleasant enough when everything is going our way,
but to be pleasant when you are suffering the consequences of being
deeply in trouble is an especially great grace; a sign, I think, of the
indwelling of the Holy Spirit. My young friend knew that he was
standing at a crossroads, and his next actions and his attitude would
reveal a lot about him, about his character, and about the kind of future
that he would make for himself.
Perhaps something somewhat similar was going on with the
Apostles in those days between the Resurrection and Ascension of the
Lord; how the Apostles reacted, how they behaved, how they looked
toward the future would determine their fate, their reward, and the
future of the emerging Church.
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We can appreciate that they must have been very confused. Jesus
walked and worked among them and with them for three years, was
betrayed, arrested, condemned, suffered, died, was buried, and rose
from the dead, appearing after the resurrection not just to anyone,
certainly not to those who had condemned or killed him, but only to his
faithful followers. Now, after forty days, they wondered what would
happen next. They did not know the Pentecost event, the coming of the
Spirit, was just ten days away. They had not yet come to know that in
living their lives as faithful disciples of Jesus they would see, consider
and finally understand how the Jesus event informed their task as the
developing church.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Luke reports about the forty days after
the resurrection of Jesus: “He presented himself alive to them / by many
proofs after he had suffered, / appearing to them during forty days /
and speaking about the kingdom of God.”
Jesus asked the Apostles “not to depart from Jerusalem, / but to
wait for / ‘the promise of the Father / about which you have heard me
speak; / for John baptized with water, / but in a few days you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.’”
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They seem a little confused in the question they ask Jesus just
before he ascends out of their sight, returning to the Father: “When they
had gathered together they asked him, / ‘Lord, are you at this time going
to restore the kingdom to Israel?’” Jesus was not about restoring
monarchies or kingdoms. He came to announce and inaugurate the
universal Kingdom, the Reign of God: “an eternal and universal
kingdom, a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness and grace, a
kingdom of justice, love and peace” (Preface: Christ, King of the
Universe).
How should we welcome such a King and such a vision? The
psalmist models the attitude that should be ours in welcoming the Lord:
“All you peoples, clap your hands, / shout to God with cries of gladness,
/ For the LORD, the Most High, the awesome, / is the great king over all
the earth.”
With the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles then and we
today seek to advance God’s Reign until the day we see Christ face to
face. The task is to see, consider and finally understand how the Jesus
event informs our task as church. We are called to fashion a culture in
which the examples of Mother Teresa and Dorothy Day will prompt us
all to work to see that no one, no group, is marginalized, pushed to the
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edges. In seeking the Reign of God, we can never deny the dignity of any
human person, or any group of people. To violate human dignity is a
great sin against the Gospel; violations of human dignity are repugnant
to God.
The task of the church in every age is to lead us to sanctity; we
tread the path of sanctity when we are faithful in prayer and in service.
As we pray and serve, we may well feel a little confused about the
Ascension. We often tend to misunderstand or overlook this Easter
event. When the scriptures speak of Jesus “going up” to heaven, it is not
going up as a rocket ship goes up. The Ascension is about the
enthronement of Christ as Lord. The Gospel of Mark describe Jesus as
“taken up into heaven” where he “took his seat at the right hand of God.”
Where he has gone, we hope to follow. The psalmist gives us the vision:
“God mounts his throne amid shouts of joy; / the LORD, amid trumpet
blasts. / Sing praise to God, sing praise; /sing praise to our king, sing
praise.”
How do we do follow Jesus to eternity? Maybe the 18th century
composer Johan Sebastian Bach has an answer for us. Bach wrote more
than a thousand pieces of music and is considered by many to be the
greatest composer ever. When asked about writing music, he said,
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“Music’s only purpose should be the glory of God and the re-creation of
the human spirit.” Wow. There was a man with a mission:
sanctification and service. Would it be possible to find a better life, or a
more noble purpose, than to pursue God by acting in justice and in
charity toward all of God’s other creatures?
Today, gathered at book and table, let us ask in prayer to be the
people who emphasize sanctification and service. May God be praised
in our every act, by all we do, by who we are, and by who we hope to
become.
Take a listen:
Yo-Yo Ma plays the prelude from Bach´s Cello Suite No. 1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=28&v=dZn_VBgkPNY
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